I put the year on here because I have big intentions on going back to Philadelphia while the girls are school age. There are good historical sites and museums to see up there. Plus I'd love to do other parts of the state, such as Hershey, Lancaster.
But, this trip was off the cuff, meant to pick up a vehicle for my grandma Lael. It is a van that will hopefully allow her to get out of the house a bit. So, I grabbed Jeff and the girls and we all drove up together without much incident, although sometimes I really wish that I was driving the car and not being the mommy in the back seat. Unfortunately, I can care for them better than Jeff and we both know it, so I do it, but in some ways I resent it and I wish I could just sit in the drivers seat without the fuss. We actually stopped in Baltimore on the way up because it just got too late. First stop in the morning on Saturday was to the dealership, then we found a hotel and checked in, then made our way to see the Liberty Bell and visitors museum. The building where the bell is housed was closed for renovations so maybe next time we will see it up close instead of through an exterior window. We saw the footprint of the first presidential residence, and made some flat souvenir pennies, that's our new thing. It was COLD outside. For dinner, we went to famous Jim's Steaks. They were good, but honestly, I thought that the cheese steak place we used to have here in Cornelius was better.
On Sunday we made our way to the aquarium. If yesterday was cold, today was worse. Even the short walk from the parking lot to the front door had my face burning with the cold winds, and Jane sobbing the whole way, even in the stroller. Evie was all bundled up tight in her seat with a cover. The coolest thing about this aquarium was the hippo exhibit. And they came up close. We could see them both above and below the water. I've seen hippos at the zoo but only above the water so that was neat. Then we saw sharks. At first Jane was afraid to go in, so we covered her head with a blanket, but she peeked of course and eventually didn't mind the sharks and actually found them interesting and would point out when a big one was coming our way or overhead. After seeing more fish, sharks, manta rays, sting rays, jellyfish, crabs, long-neck turtles, and frogs, and especially after playing on the kid area zones, we made our way to a mega Target on the way home, to look for swimsuits. The Target was kinda cool with the glass facade and elevators/escalators, but inside it was much the same as any other Target. Jane and I found suits, Jeff will just use his gym shorts. Nice to be a guy in situations like that. Jane loved the pool and it was Evie's first time in water other than a bathtub. She seemed to like it too! We spent a good amount of time swimming, Jeff playing with Jane, me holding Evie, and Jeff mentioned that this is the year we should sign up Jane for swim lessons. I agree. Since I didn't want to go out in that cold again, Jeff went out to bring us back hot soup and bread from Panera. Heavenly broccoli cheddar soup. And a cheese pastry. Yum.
Monday was just part of an extended trip, because it was President's Day and I saw that Valley Forge had a special celebration for George Washington's birthday. There wasn't any school on Monday for Jeff so I convinced him to stay on. So glad we did. It was fun to see President Washington and his wife Martha all dressed up for the occasion, we made hats and cards and ate cake. Then we booked it out of there because we knew the day that awaited us....
The rest of Monday was the caravan home. I underestimated what we could do, especially with me being alone in one vehicle with the girls, and no way to comfort Evie when she was crying. Snowstorm "Octavia" hit that day, and we drove to about 6:30pm, near the West Virginia/ Virginia border on 81 before I decided it wasn't going to happen today and we had to stop. The driving conditions were bad and Evie was once again screaming in the backseat. We stayed at a Courtyard, had McDonalds for dinner and I went to swim with Jane some more. The following day the trip was much smoother, we didn't leave until Evie was asleep, then stopped when she was awake to eat lunch, and I refused to leave again til she was asleep. I guess with babies you can't have a time frame for road travel unless you want to lose your mind.
Overall, a great trip. There were sights along the way that looked fun. A natural bridge outside of Roanoke, Virginia. Luray Caverns also in Virginia. Dutch Wonderland, I believe that was near Lancaster area. The small town of Carlisle, PA was adorable. I just wanted to snap photos of all the cute old buildings. I told myself I'd come home and jot all these places down for our next trip up here. I'd probably make it a long trip and try to see sites in Washington DC, Monticello, Mount Vernon, Gettysburg. Heck, we might as well keep driving up to NYC and experience that too. But not for a toddler and a baby. That will be a fun trip for another day!
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